lucy mae

Lucy is my great-niece, or grandniece. Which means she is the daughter of my nephew. So logically, it  means she is the granddaughter of my brother or sister (in-law). But that just sounds old.

Lucy is a dream baby: Never cries. Always smiling. Not afraid of strangers. And oh so cute!  

This quilt is the same pattern I made for my nephew Golden, but obviously PINK.

I randomly quilted unmarked and unmeasured lines horizontally and vertically, to balance out the very precise layout of the star. The white is Kona Cotton Snow: Not too white, not too creamy. Pretty much my choice for white on quilts. 

These last two photos were taken at night, so enough said. 

It's a little hard to tell, but the binding is mostly white, with a black piece (on the bottom left, below) to shake things up a bit.

flying geese for simon

"Finishing" this quilt in December meant that I managed to get the top done and I could wrap it up for my sister in law's baby shower as a partially finished gift. Later that month, baby Simon was born. The next few months were slow due to machine tension glitches. Oh the glitches!

You know what they say, [January, February, March and] April showers bring May flowers. And glorious May brought a finished product! 

These few months have certainly treated baby simon well: just look at that cute little babe! And when I say "little," I mean chubbalicious, of course.

 Simon's favorite colors are black and white. What are the odds!!!?

It's a little hard to see in some of the shots, but I used a creamy white for the majority of the quilt, and added some pure white triangles for a subtle contrast.

The back is tan and white. Quilt idea from Lindsay Stead.

from our family to yours

Merry Christmas!

sure, it's Christmas, but...

I can't forget Halloween. I mean, I can. It was months ago. But I must document costumes. I was commissioned by my children to make three of these. For the others, I was just a contributing donor. Can you guess which ones I made?

Old school photo strip.

Viking Lumberjack.

Jedi.

Jedi Master.

Vintage batman. The costume that keeps on giving. 
(See this year. And this year. But not this year.)

Mary Poppins.

One of my mom's student's made this hat and detachable beard. It is awesome! Jonah has used it for many school projects. Did you know that Caesar Augustus had a long black beard? Me neither.

Grace had already left for a party at this point.

And Rosie. She's just riveting. And blurry.

Merry Christmas!

many photos. one quilt.

We just returned from London and the jet lag is casting its vote for sleep. But this quilt is finished, and by golly, what better time than now to blog again after my quasi summer-hiatus.

This quilt was inspired by the design of this one and the colors of this one. My nephew, Golden, is the long overdue recipient.

 Can't forget the back.

I snagged this insty from my sister. Love to see baby and quilt living in harmony. I think the colors are more true in this photo. The black looks black, and the navy looks navy. And how cute is that boy!

end of summer

With so much filling up our summer days, I have lots to update. Most recently...

At a family party a few weeks ago, George hit his eye on a marble fireplace at his cousins' house. We ended up in the ER, but it was quick, thanks to our in-laws' in-law, who works in the ER and was also at the party. He called ahead and got us right in, with no wait. We were also very grateful no stitches were necessary - only glue.

All the kids have been in school for several weeks now, except for Hank and George. They start preschool in September and are getting pretty excited, although I don't really think they know what to expect. New backpacks are in order and that is worth getting pumped about!

 Jonah and Grace are in junior high together this year.

Owen is alone at the elementary school in 3rd grade. He loves being the only one, which I thought would be an issue for him. Not even a worry. He's already sad that next year Hank and George will join the carpool.

Sweet niece Madalyn (in the middle) left for her mission to Rome, Italy! 

My side of the family had a fun reunion at the Nielsons' cabin in Pinetop, AZ. We were all there, which was awesome in itself, but my mom planned so many fun things for everyone and it made it that much better!

The swings were a favorite pastime. 

My brothers.

 Mummy wrapping game.

 My sister taking a test jump at Sunrise Ski resort. We did lots more of this at more thrilling heights, but I must get video from Mark to prove it. So fun!

My cute niece, Alice turned 5!

 Walks around the almost dry lake.

 Crafting creations.

 Marshmallow gluttony on our way to church.

And finally, we left for Pinetop with our bathroom like this:

And returned to fresh new paint, (Lower bathroom cabinets are soon to be painted white)

And our newly planked entry...

...was painted too.
And almost the whole house got a fresh coat of paint, including all the doors and trim. Now the house looks so clean and fresh. I love it! If only it could stay that way.
I can't wait to get everything back in order and take some better pics to share.